be the head of the catholic church. >> joy: what are you saying? >> nothing. >> joy: the pope is like 150 years old. >> i know. but there's cialis. i don't know. hot-looking priest. then he has women friends. he has some friends that are women. all hot and bothered. >> the church loves this. they're trying to market themselves younger and younger. facebook and twitter. they're trying to get in on all of that. this has been going on. they need someone like this. >> there are so many hot rabbis, you know. >> joy: see the lovely judy gold and bruce will be performing at the landmark theatre in port washington this saturday night. thanks to all of my guests. i would like to wish our good friend betty white a happy 91st birthday. also, it is michelle obama's birthday. happy birthday to michelle. i know you're watching. i know you're getting this show. see you next time.

she's watching, isn't she? >> jennifer: i'm jennifer granholm. tonight in "the war room," the far right's response to any proposal put forth by the president has become so predictable, so set in stone that any description of it is merely a matter of filling in the blanks. the american people overwhelmingly support -- >> gun safety reform. >> jennifer: spread of the will of american people, congressional republicans can do anything they can to -- >> stop gun safety reform. >> jennifer: they're beholding to special-interest groups. in this case -- >> announcer: the national rifle association. >> jennifer: their refusal to support gun safety reform will hurt them especially among women. it can best be described as moronic, ill-advised thinking,

hash tag fail system overload. system overload. system overload. >> jennifer: so yesterday the president showed strong resolve in calling for new gun safety legislation and today republicans reacted by going completely out of their minds. as humorist put it, they're now accusing president obama of using his position as president to lead the country. the horror! >> i'm afraid that president obama may have this king complex sort of developing and we're going to make sure it doesn't happen. >> we've completely lost our checks and balances. the congress needs to hold the president accountable for the decisions he's making right now. >> as i said before, i'm going to arm all of my deputies. a month ago, i said that before this, with automatic weapons and

semi-automatic weapons. we're going to be able to fight back. i don't care what they say from washington. >> jennifer: actually, think about the demographic politics of the last election. what do all of the broad array of critics not just those ones but what do they have in common? aside from the obvious -- they're all white. they're all male. now, of course, not every white male thinks the same way that they do. but it is notable that this virulent anti-regulation bunch the folks who have been the first shakers not just rush limbaugh, but the folks in congress too they're made up of mostly that same demographic group. in fact, those demographics mirror the nra itself. the nra's board is 87% male and 93% white. the nra's wayne lapierrre keeps insisting his group is

bipartisan but take a look at this. the overwhelming majority of congress members with an "a" rating from the nra are republicans. on the other end of the spectrum, the fs are almost entirely democrats. a little sliver of red there you can barely even see it. and of course, the funding follows accordingly. 97% of nra funds went to republican in the last election. but it seems like the nra is not only not representative of the full american demographic. but data suggests that it is out of step with the rest of the country as well. on this issue of gun safety. new polls show that the majority of americans support the president's gun safety proposals. new polls out today, 85% support closing the gun show loophole. 80% prevent people with mental illness from getting guns.

55% support a ban on semi-automatic weapons. when you look, interestingly just women, it is more dramatic. it is the same all the way down the list. more women than men support a federal database of gun sales. more women than men support a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips. more women than men support closing the gun show loophole. the republican party really ignores those kind of numbers on this issue at its peril. in fact, the majority of americans actually like the way the president is doing his job. his approval rating out again today is 52%. that's the highest it's been since the very early months of his presidency. so it looks like the gun lobby's attacks are not dragging the president down and frankly they might even be making him stronger. today, vice president joe biden said the administration's going to continue to make gun safety a priority. >> i know you've come to talk about a broad range of very

important, challenging issues that are facing each of your cities and towns. as important as they all are today we have a more urgent and immediate call. and that is how to deal with the epidemic of gun violence in america. >> jennifer: so even though the public is behind gun safety measures broadly there is still this little matter of getting legislation through congress. house republicans are for a fight. they very well might win. they still do control the house afterall. even if reasonable republicans support pragmatic gun measures, when those reasonable republicans stay quiet the extremists speak for the party. here's, for example representative steve stockman, responding to the president's press conference. >> if he thinks these bills are good, his law is good, he should go through congress. he's not a king.

reminds me of saddam hussein when he used kids. >> jennifer: the question, which is coming out of all of this is whether the president should fight for rational policy that he knows will not pass an irrational house of representatives. and the answer to that question is really in a painting by grace mcdonnell, a 6-year-old sandy hook victim whose dad gave the president a piece of her artwork >> obama: i think about grace. i think about the life that she lived. and the life that lay ahead of her. and most of all, i think about how when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now. >> jennifer: for grace, this fight is worth waging. and for her this fight may even be worth losing in the short term anyway. because while the president might be able to squeak out an

unsatisfying victory a small and ugly bill riddled with loopholes and signifying nothing, perhaps in this instance, the better course is to wage the big fight to stand strong over banning assault rifles. even when you know you're not going to get the votes in congress because it is a noble cause. because it is better to lose with grace than to win ugly. because every day the extremists froth about saddam hussein and king obama and impeachment over a rational ban on assault rifles. they make the case to most everyday americans that these particular republicans are less interested in protecting children than in protecting ak-47 assault rifles. and americans will be able to do something about it in 2014. for many parents and women in particular speaker pelosi is a much more rational alternative

than the nra the hold and stable of armed and angry men that occupies the majority in the house of representatives today. for more on this, i'm joined by michael tomasky special contributor for "newsweek" "daily beast." he's coming to us from washington d.c. michael, welcome back inside "the war room." >> thank you so much. nice to see you. >> jennifer: nice o to see you, too. do you think the gun issue will exacerbate the republican party's problem with women? >> oh, yes. absolutely. not only with women but with americans. with men too. men, as you noted in your introduction, support some of the measures in lower numbers but they support them. majorities of men support you know, this background check idea and closing the gun show loophole and limiting the clips and half of men support the assault weapons ban. so but it's particularly with

women. you're right. and you know, this is just an excessive, obscene situation where you have basically governor, 2/3 of the country supporting x. this group of measures. 2/3 of the country. and 1/3 of the country opposing it. that 1/3 is vastly overrepresented in congress. that overrepresentative bunch is just not going to budge. so the will of the people is just not going to happen. probably. i don't want to say definitively. >> jennifer: you sound pretty defeatist. you never know. there seems to be some cracks in the armor. at least there is a willingness to take this fight to the people. and as the president has suggested, if the people demand a vote and hold people accountable and the question is can you get a vote in the house of representatives. do you think michael, it is worth it for the president to bring the fight to congress even if he knows that he's going to

lose? >> i do. i absolutely do. i think you were eloquent about that and right about that. i didn't mean to sound defeatist. i meant to sound mad and frustrated. but no, i'm not defeatist because i do think that if the obama coalition if the obama voting coalition is really mobilized and really energized to lobby for this fight and to daal their members of congress and call their senators and get out there and agitate that may prove to be bigger than the nra's constituency. it really may prove to be bigger. and we've seen that boehner will bow to pressure and we saw what the fiscal cliff vote, he let something come to the floor. you know, i don't want to say that it's impossible at this point. it is a very, very steep uphill climb. i don't want to say it is impossible. even if it does lose, you're absolutely right that it's

better to have fought the good fight, a. and b, it shows them for what they are and paints them as so much more marginal in the eyes of so many more americans. >> jennifer: i do think people will empower rational gun owners of which the vast majority are and those -- you know, reasonable republicans of which maybe not all in congress but the vast majority are. you mention this issue about john boehner having brought up two bills so far this month. the fiscal cliff and the sandy relief bill without a majority of his majority behind it. if he brought up a vote on this issue, would his speakership be at risk? >> yes. it probably would be. and then, of course, there is a debt ceiling vote. now you hear a lot of republicans making noises about backing down from the debt ceiling fight.

it is interesting by the way, i know we're not here to talk about that. it is interesting how the conventional wisdom has shifted on that. >> jennifer: quickly too. >> so quickly. just another sign of the shifting sands. it all hinges on how public opinion turns. and you know, is the president going to go out on the stump? is he going to go out and barnstorm the country for his proposals? how much political capital is he going to put into it? if he really builds up public support for the proposals and public support grows and if they feel pressure, he'll bring a vote. >> >> jennifer: just to take you back to that -- not the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling issue that the republicans do seem to be going soft on, i do think one of the reasons why they went so soft is because major traditionally republican lobbying groups were advocating like the chamber of commerce came out strongly saying this is crazy. i'm wondering if there are other

traditionally republican groups like law enforcement organizations, you know, the police associations who might tend to be conservatives. if they came out strong and spoke, if the faith community came out strong, those could be groups that would end up moving and you know, shaking that a little bit. just quickly let's take a listen to who senator ted cruz was talking about -- what he thinks is going to happen as a result of the dunn gun debate. take a listen. >> i think the consequence i think he's going to pay a serious political price. and i think the price that's going to be paid on this is going to manifest in senate races in 2014. >> jennifer: your take on that. he's flipping our argument on its head. he think it will benefit the republicans rather than cause them to lose seats. >> no, i don't see that. but, but the democrats and the obama organizations, they really have to get out the vote for

2014. it has to be impressed upon democratic and progressive voters they have to vote in off-year elections in the numbers that they vote in presidential elections. that is really important work that must be done and i hope it's being done right now by the obama people and by the democratic party people because of if that work is done and if those people do turn out to vote, then ted cruz is wrong. ted cruz could still be right if they vote in the numbers they voted in 2010. >> jennifer: if the president and all of us learned anything from 2010, democrats stay home and you get what we got today in congress. thank you michael, so much for joining me inside "the war room." love your columns. in the 34 days since the tragedy in newtown 34 days, the number now, 1,013 americans have died as a result of gun violence. 34 days.

that's the latest rough estimate from "slate" magazine. 17-year-old tyrone lawson is one of them. become reports the senior at chicago's morgan park high school was shot twice in the back outside of chicago state university last night. he was attending a high school basketball game and the basketball game was moved to the university site because of past violence between the two high schools. so a fight broke out after the game. shots were fired in the parking lot. tyrone is now dead. tyrone was an honor student. he hoped to study engineering in college. tyrone lost his life. was cut down like the other 1,012 people who have been casualties of this senseless gun violence in america since sandy hook.

hey, i'm joey aragon. see that film? people call me about this every day. my dishwasher must be broken. you know, it's not always the machine. it may be the detergent. add finish power up to boost your detergent and you'll see a huge difference. watch what it can do. look at that sparkle! now that's clean! cloudiness! spots! tough stains! even dishwasher build-up! gone! just like that! so don't give up. add finish power up. wow! see the difference! it's a must have! [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix. when the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support chantix is proven to help people quit smoking.

it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood hostility, agitation depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. it helps to have people around you... they say you're much bigger than this. and you are. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. >> jennifer: the massacre at sandy hook elementary prompted the latest effort to tackle gun

safety and while the deaths of 20 school children shock the nation shootings are unfortunately way too common in many urban areas of the country. for example the crime in chicago blog reports 16 school children have been shot so far this year. that's almost one a day. five of them were killed. in oakland california, there have been 13 homicide since sandy hook. today the police were unable to break down how many of those in oakland from shootings but we do know from over the past weekend 11 people were wounded in gun violence. and last friday four people died in oakland shootings over the span of six hours. with us now is oakland's congresswoman democrat barbara lee. welcome inside "the war room"." i only wish you were here on set. >> pleased to be with you. >> jennifer: well, let's talk

about the gun issue first because you do represent an area that has been certainly in the crosshairs, if you will, of gun violence. do you expect this latest round of gun safety efforts promoted by the president and vice president, to actually have an impact on urban violence? >> jennifer quite frankly i'm optimistic that we'll be able to move something forward. of course, we know what the political dynamics are here in the house of representatives but i think the american people, and i think every poll has shown since the horrific tragedy in newtown that people want at least background checks. they want assault weapons off of the streets. assault weapons have no place. these military-type of weapons. what in the world are they doing on the streets of oakland, for example. our community chicago other urban communities, they have

been war zones for many years and we've been crying out the people in my district want peace and they want an end to the violence but it will take federal efforts. the first thing we have to do is look at the proposals that the president has submitted. and i hope he does initiate executive action because getting bills through congress again given the composition of tea party congress, they say no to everything. it will be an uphill battle but it will be very important to not only to my community but the culture of violence and to get guns off the streets. >> jennifer: do you think from a political point of view if it starts in the senate and comes over to the house and it has some bipartisan support would john boehner put it up for a vote in then h hsese i thi ihi t tt't'oioioo

de ndden ndeth americari people. that's going to depend on the president, and all of us and how we do our work. it will depend on mobilization and organization and grassroots efforts. i tell you i've seen things turn around, quite frankly pretty quickly when those e-mails and marchs and those protests begin. so i have to be optimistic that we can do it. it's not going to be because the tea party republicans are going to vote for it. it will be the moderate republicans who will hear from their constituenting saying enough is enough. >> jennifer: i totally agree with you. all you viewers out there. it's up to you to make your voice heard, too. let me quickly change subjects. the "washington post" is reporting that the tea party express has moved back from the debt ceiling. do you think that concession will be enough for the rest of the house republicans to join the democrats for a solution on

the debt ceiling. >> we've always raised the debt ceiling. we should pay our bills as the president said, we're not a dead-bet country. i'm glad they finally saw the light. we need to pay our bills and move forward. there is a stronghold of 75 republican tea party members who quite frankly do listen to the tea party in many ways, and hopefully this is a signal that they too need to understand that this should not be an issue. it should not be held honestly. hostage. we should raise the debt ceiling. that's an automatic. we should move forward and talk about how we create jobs. by creating jobs we reduce the deficit. >> jennifer: i'm take taking it as an encouraging sign that the tea party can be moved by public voices. if they can be moved on the debt ceiling of all things, maybe

they could be moved on guns. you wrote in the "huffington post," advocating reducing defense spending so you can spend more money and invest in the united states. the question is in the negotiations in congress over the spending do you see that happening? >> we've got to make it happen. again, it's got to be the voice of the american people that will make it happen. people don't realize that 60% of our discretionary money go to the defense. wewe need and want a strong defense, with you but quite frankly out dateed cold war-era weapons can be taken off the table. there are many, many ways we can save money with defense in our pentagon budget, and never even touch anything that would affect our troops and their benefits

and their families or national defense. nothing is off of the table and we have to under that defense can't be off of the table. we have to keep defense on the table as part of the negotiations as we move forward. i cannot accept a plan that's going to cut domestic spending by 8%. but i can look at a plan that looks at waste fraud and abuse cuts in the pentagon that will create jobs in our country and invest in infrastructure, education, healthcare rather than investing in cold war-era weapons systems that are now obsolete. >> jennifer: i hope they listen to you. barbara lee joining us. thank you for joining us. up next, leon panetta calls suicide in this country an epidemic, and the numbers bear them out.

but in the gun safety debate numbers don't change things, people do. kim's husband jim was a casualty of that crisis. she's joining us next with her story. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] welcome back inside "the war room." suds in the military are at an all-time high. last year 349 service members took their own lives. that was more killed in the actual afghanistan and iraq wars. there was a 14% jump from those

who committed suicide in 2011. for secretary leon panetta this epidemic is personal. >> my wife who is a nurse worked on mental healthcare issues. she said to me time and time again that is a human issue, a human problem. you got to look in people's eyes. you got to be sensitive to their emotions. >> jennifer: tonight i want to move beyond the numbers and put a face to this tragedy. this is major john rocco who served in the u.s. marine corps. he was a highly dedicateed cobra helicopter pilot who killed himself right before he was deployed to iraq. he left behind his wife kim and

two sons. his suicide was a clarion call for kim who is now manager of suicide outreach for taps, tragedy assistance program for survivors. kim comes to us from washington, d.c. kim, thank you so much for joining me tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> jennifer: you bet so why why have there been, and why are there now so many military suicide? >> well, it's been a long war and a lot of there's and we're asking a lot a lot of our military and their families. when you put together a lot of years of stress, injury and illness and loss of a sense of purpose or hope, you have people at a high risk of suicide. >> jennifer: america is beginning to extricate itself from afghanistan and iraq. i was surprised were you surprised that the suicide rate

was actually going up. >> no, i really wasn't surprised at that. many of our troops, you know, they find a sense of purpose, a sense of belongingness. when they're in combat they know what their mission s and they have a fellow marines who are working together on a common mission. when they come home and try to transition home to their communities, to their families, and they maybe lose a sense of purpose. then add on top of that some of the injuries and illness that we're seeing as a result of war traumatic brain injuries, concussions, post traumatic stress, moral injuries. if you add those to somebody who is trying to reintegrate back with their families and their communities, you have to look at them and say they might need some support. >> jennifer: so with the soldiers that may be coming back home, are you worried? does it worry you and obviously others who serve the community of those who are reentering

civilian life, that we may even see a further bump in suicide if we're not attentive. >> i do worry about that, and we have to play close attention to our service members and give them the best possible care that they deserve for the injuries and illness to get them care immediately and get it to them comprehensively. and then provide opportunities a sense of purpose, a sense of meaning in their life and hope that their lives will get better. we've got to identify people when they're first starting to feel problems in their lives when they're first having stressful incidents when they're first having depression, anxiety, sleeplessness those early indicators that can snowball into a real problem. they need to get help and get help early on. and i think families often don't really that untreated depression untreated traumatic brain injuries can be deadly,

and they don't realize that treatment works. there is treatment available. and the sooner they have treatment, the sooner they can go out in the community with their spouse, get on with their life. >> jennifer: you're a social worker. >> i am a social worker, yes. >> jennifer: so when--for people who are watching, where do families need to go for help? where they go to the v.a.? where would they go first? >> there are lots and lots of entry points for help. if they're active duty they can go to their primary care doctor behavioral health, their chaplain, if they want to talk it out to see what the options are, and for veterans they can go to the v.a. for anybody who is in crisis they can call the crisis line

1-800-273-talk. it's confidential. they'll be able to guide you where to go for help. but the point is to get help soon. get it early. get to it before it starts to affect your life. >> jennifer: we've done a number of stories of how much the backlog at the v.a. have been preventing people from filing claims getting help, etc. do you think the v.a. is funded and equipped to cope with the magnitude of this very sensitive problem? >> i don't. i think active duty and v.a. need more providers who understand the military culture and understand post traumatic stress disorder and moral injuries, and i think we need to be able to get a soldier, a marine, airman help immediately help when theywhen they come forward

and they need it. oftentimes it's very difficult to treat them or get them better if their lives have already fallen down around their injury or their illness. the minute someone comes forward and says i need help. it's probably because they are really sick and its affecting their lives. >> jennifer: well, kim, you have obviously put your personal tragedy really to work for other people and that's really an incredibly noble thing to do. thank you for joining us inside "the war room." that was kim ruocco, at taps, tragedy assistance program for survivors. we'll take a quick break and then come right back. >> she gets the comedians laughing... >> that's hilarious! >> ...and the thinkers thinking. >> okay, so there's wiggle-room in the ten commandments is what you're telling me. >> she's joy behar. >> and current will let me

>> only on current tv. [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. ok. [ voice of dennis ] silence. are you in good hands? before the sneeze, help protect with a spray. before the tissue, help defend with a wipe. before the cold & flu season help prevent with lysol. because when you have 10 times more protection with each hand wash... and kill 99.9% of germs around the house with each spray... those healthy habits start to add up. this season, a good offense is the best defense and lysol has your family covered because that's our mission for health.

>> jennifer: we are all about politics here in "the war room," but sometimes the story has nothing to do with republicans or democrats and yet it's it so piques our interest. case in point linebacker manti te'o. he's a 21-year-old hawaiian native and he helped to lead notre dame victory over the spartans. just days after his girlfriend, lanae kukuo just days after she died from leukemia. so we thought. this love story so cap captivated the nation.

but now we learn that lanae never existed. we're here with robert thompson at syracuse university. welcome inside "the war room," robert. >> thank you. >> jennifer: what gives with this story? there are so many unanswered questions. >> well, there are and i think there is certainly another shoe to drop. >> jennifer: what? >> imelda marco's shoes to drop. many people can't get their head around this. it's so bizarre and so strange. i don't know that it's that strange at all. it's 2013. let's assume right now for a second that it's a massive prank. prank versus been around for a long time. betty white has a series on the air where people get pranked. jimmy kimmel was constantly inspiring pranks that people do. camera candid was doing it in

the 1940s. p.j. barnum with an awful lot of pranks. >> jennifer: i give you that. he may be a huge victim victim of a huge prank. two days after the hoax was exposed. listen to what he said. >> since i got hit with cancer i don't like cancer. i lost my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer. i try to go to children's hospitals and see the children. >> jennifer: okay, he talks about, of course, how moved he is by cancer. seems like a really nice young man. i under that he's a faithful mormon. he meets allegedly this person online. because you're in 2013 the fact that he wouldn't have had a conversation with her through skype, that he wouldn't have had any face-to-face interaction

with this "givegirlfriend" that he felt so strongly about? come on, was he in on this hoax or not. >> i agree with you. there are so many holes in this story that you could drive massive fleets of trucks through. but once again. let's assume that it's somebody who is perpetrateed a bunch of lies for his own best interest. again should we be surprised? does anybody remember balloon boy, james frey lonely girl 15, the list goes on and on. however this plays out. was he involved? there are a lot of unanswered questions. was he not, however it turns out to be. and now it's being prosecuted with due diligence i think we're going to find out. none of these things i think should really surprise us. let's look at the venue college football. oh was there any other scandals

in college football before? let's think about that one. >> jennifer: right but you are a professor of media studies. what does it mean by the state of journalism where we were buying in this hoax and feeding into it and there wasn't any due diligence. >> that's really the big story no matter how it turns out. this too good to be true story comes up. i'm not saying that all american journalism has gone to the dogs. there are still people doing really good american journalism, online, on tv, in the newspapers, and all the rest of it. but in this case i think it was pretty pitiful. the very fact that no death notices, no evidence of graduation from places people were supposed to have graduated. this story was something that was so delicious and the fact that what, cbs and "sports illustrated"," espn, the south

bend tribune it all became a self-fulfilling story where each one cited the other. that is the biggest question that sports journalism has to ask in the wake of this, not what really happened, which is going to come out sooner our later. >> jennifer: we're talking about this on the day that lance armstrong comes clean about doping and he also reeled in journalists telling his story. people bought into the lies. reporters didn't want to touch the story. another cautionary tale for journalism students, yes? >> let's not even talk about lance armstrong and tigers woods and these individuals. what about the enormous sports stories that have to do with abuse of all kinds of children. sports it is news now. i think these kinds of stories

need to be gone after with the kind of journalistic professionalism and ethics that we hope quote/unquote real stores they go after. now they have a blog 24 hours a day, and maybe due diligence is a thing of the past. >> jennifer: that's a frightening statement right there. you're blogging and preempting due diligence. that's a comment on journalism. robert thompson, thank you for joining us. professor of media and pop culture studies at syracuse university. up next, american ingenuity used for this monday morning current tv presents special coverage of the presidential inauguration. the circumstance & the inside analysis. the presidential inauguration this monday morning at 10 eastern only on current

tv. [ ryon ] eating shrimp at red lobster is a fantastic experience. 30 shrimp for $11.99. i can't imagine anything better. you're getting a ton of shrimp and it tastes really good! [ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobster's 30 shrimp for just $11.99! choose any two of five savory shrimp selections like mango jalapeño shrimp and parmesan crunch shrimp. two delicious shrimp selections on one plate! all with salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. 30 shrimp, just $11.99 for a limited time. wow, that's a lot of shrimp. i'm ryon stewart i'm the ultimate shrimp lover, and i sea food differently.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> jennifer: let's head down to los angeles to check on what cenk uygur has planned for "the young turks." what is going on with you guys? >> cenk: thank you jennifer. we have an exclusive on the show today. >> jennifer: what's that? >> cenk: michael hastings was talking to rahm emmanuel when rahm emmanuel grabbed his arm and menaced him. >> jennifer: what are you talking about? >> cenk: you'll have to tune in to "the young turks." >> jennifer: he menaced him. you have the first menace on "the young turks." what else have you got? >> cenk: we're also going to talk to a legislature who is going to give gay marriage passed in illinois. i think it's going to work this time around. she's the person pushing it, and

we have her on the show. >> jennifer: you don't have the story about the manti te'o. >> cenk: of course, of course we have that story. >> jennifer: i was going to say its right up your alley. you have to talk about that. "the young turks" always have the latest and greatest of anything culture oriented. now a look at the best of the rest the story that progressives should know about. florida senator bill nelson announced that he's going to participate in his state's efforts to eradicate the out of control population of burmese pythons. he'll join researchers in the university of florida with the python challenge. it has already sent 1,000 hunters out into the wilderness to bag those pythons. up for grabs $2,500 in cash

prizes. you non-floorfloridians, you have to know that those pythons are dangerous in florida. there is a guy who works at an us-based software company unnamed at the moment, that was caught outsourcing his own job to china. according to this post, the company, which by the way encourages telecommuting for his employees saw these log-ins from china on their server was a breach of security. in their research they found that the guy involved in the investigation right now as "bob" way paying a chinese developer one-fifth of his six-digit salary to do his job.

and they used the remote log-in to do bob's work while he was sitting in front of the computer. this is what bob did. he went on reddit. he watched videos and he went on facebook. we don't have to warn you don't try this at home. even though his company's performance review noteed bob quote, as the best developer in the company" thanks to the guy in china bob no longer workers works there. and at a time we want to celebrate the inauguration, we're going to celebrate a birthday. first lady michelle obama celebrated her birthday with a new haircut and new twitter account, it gains 40,000 new followers, probably even more even as

i speak. and she shares per doctored can edither birthday withbetty white. >> dear betty i can't believe you're 90 years old. in fact, i don't believe it. that's why i'm writing to ask if you would be willing to produce a copy of your

who is this? that's pete. my... [ dennis' voice ] allstate agent. a "starving artist" has an allstate agent? he got me... [ dennis' voice ] the allstate value plan. it's their most affordable car insurance and you still get an agent. [ normal voice ] i call it... [ dennis' voice ] the protector. is that what you call it? the protector! okay. ♪ ♪ the allstate value plan. are you in good hands?

hershey's simple pleasures chocolate. 30% less fat, 100% delicious. @ñ [ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> jennifer: earlier this week the white house shot down an online petition to start building a death star. now the administration changes to the official potential website that has brett erlich thinking about going to the dark side. shh brett's talking now. >> when we petitioned the site

in 2011 it only took 5,000 signatures to get an official response from the white house. it became so popular that the white house raced that number. now it is again raising the number. this is not applying to petitions already filed. so the television program featuring joe biden only needs 2700 more signatures. and now the question becomes will this new threshold discourage the voiceless from adding their very important petition to the list on the website? will we no longer see petitions like bring back 3 ddoritos or consolidate the department of defense and the census bureau into a single department of